Robin behavior, however: That’s another story – and an authentic sign of spring.
Robins are social birds at all times, but in nesting season, they spread out. In fact, they feign fighting as a way of establishing and defending individual territories. In winter, they gather in groups. This week, I heard reports of eight and a dozen in separate flocks on either side of the Red River. I once encountered a flock of 100 or more in a copse of crabapple trees within the circle for the Devils Lake Christmas Bird Count. Of course, that was in late December, a full month earlier than last week’s reports. It’s possible those birds were northerners bound farther south.